Ella whaples



(No Model.)

I B. W'HAPLES. ATTACHMENT FOR DRESSES.

"Patented Feb; 12, 1884.

EZZa QWZa zk; M

- or bodice fronts, by means of which the strain A NITED STATES,

PATENT Orrieni ELLA WHAPLES, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LEWIS SHANNON, OF SAME PLACE.

ATTACH M ENT FOR DRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 293,387, dated February 12, 1884,

Application filed August 8, 1883. (No model.)

a full, clear, and exact description thereof, ref

erence being bad 'to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification;

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in attachments for dress is entirely taken off, when properly adjusted, from the buttons and button-holes with which the two parts of the dress-front are secured, which will prevent the lower end of thebodice from curling upward when the wearer of the dress is sitting, which will readily assist in getting a good fit to the garment, and prevent the necessity in warm weather of wearing a corset.

I11 order to secure a good smooth fit of a dress, the bodice is made so as to set smoothly over the, person, and, especially when thin stuffs are used, a great strain is brought upon thebuttons and button-holes, or upon the hooks and eyes when the latter are used to connect the two parts of the front of the dress.

The object of my invention is to provide a pair of stays to be used as attachments, sewed to the inner side of each of'the parts forming the front of the dress, and provided with means for securing the same together, so that the strain will be exerted upon the attachments rather than upon the dress itself. This attachment I make in two parts, the edges that are designed to be coupled together being provided with regular corset steels or busks, provided with the usual means of securing the fronts of corsets together, so that the putting in of whalebones into the front portion of the dress is avoided, as well as their continued breaking, while the lower end of the bodice is prevented from curling when the wearer is sitting or stooping, the lower end of the busks or steels keeping the parts in their proper position.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which the two parts of my attachment are shown disconnected, but ready to be connected, A A represent the two parts formed of two thicknesses of fabric, stitched together, and provided near their adj oining edges with pockets, into which are inserted the husk-steels B and B, with their ordinary means of fastening, G and G, as shown. Preferably the part A, the husk-steel of which is provided with the loops, is provided with an overhanging flap, D, which, when the two parts are hooked together, will overlap the husk-steel upon the adjoining part. From the inner edge of each of these parts the tops are given a gradual descent toward the outer edges, so'as to bring the front of the attachment when in place above the line of the armpits of the wearer, and the lower ends are cut in the same form, to admit of the device being attached, if desired, to the shorter seams in the dress under or a little in front of the armpits. In operation these attachments at their outer edges are sewed into the seams, one upon each part of the dress-front, and when properly adjusted ELLA W'HAILES.

WVitnesses:

E. SoU LY, H. S. SPRAGUE. 

